Malaysian businesses are becoming more impacted by the increasing importance of setting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies in place as part of their business operations. ESG creates a need of being prepared for future regulations. When a business adopts sustainability as its strategy, it allows them to be prepared for future sustainability-related policies as it is expected that adherence to ESG regulations would become prevalent and pervasive across company segments.
Investors now have also started demanding ESG compliance by companies that they wish to cooperate with as well.
A group of panellists at the Malaysian Economic Summit 2022 noted that while well-established corporations and businesses had started implementing ESG policies in their business models and made zero carbon emission pledges, SMEs – which are still reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic – do not view ESG as a priority. Many are still focused on profitability and the implementation of ESG practices is not prioritised. Some SMEs are also still trying to grasp the benefits – and significance – of adopting ESG standards.
With such a significant shift in focus towards investments within ESG-centric businesses, SMEs must recognise that ESG is no longer a choice. This means that if SMEs do not choose to adapt, they may lose out on market share or business opportunities in the future. With that, SMEs must future-proof their business and take the first step to implement ESG strategies in place.
With such an important emphasis on ESG, this begs the question for SMEs on how they can get started?
SME’s resistance to change and how they can get started
According to Phang Oy Cheng, KPMG Malaysia’s Head of Sustainability Advisory Services, SMEs face significant challenges when it comes to implementing ESG practices, including a lack of information, guidance, capabilities, and subject matter experts.
SMEs may feel that they do not have the resources that larger enterprises have to implement ESG initiatives in place. Some do not see the benefit of having ESG policies in the long run. In reality, having an ESG policy, even on a small scale can benefit a business of any size.
As ESG comprises a wide range of considerations, ESG policies will vary from business to business depending on their needs and goals. While ESG strategies can be implemented by the SMEs themselves, they can benefit more from working with a partner that has the experience.
With an end-to-end solution provider such as Lenovo, it could come in handy for SMEs. By partnering with Lenovo, SMEs will be supported at every step of the way, working closely with the business to set up their ESG strategy. Not only that SMEs will have the option to adopt services and solutions such as LenovoPRO which is a one-stop solution that allows businesses to own cost-effective Lenovo products with preferred IT solutions.
There is no single framework that sets the standard for ESG metrics for a business. This can make it difficult for them to decide which framework to follow and which goals to pursue that would be suitable for the business. As a solutions and services provider, Lenovo has the experience and an existing ESG strategy in place. They can help SMEs with their first step forward towards embarking on their ESG journey. With this, SMEs can work together with Lenovo to identify their goals and evaluate their readiness to adapt. Once established, Lenovo can then help these SMEs to think ahead and evaluate what strategies they can include in their ESG program.
Implementation & deployment of solutions and services
Once the business has outlined the strategies, it can then look at identifying the best solutions and services that would best meet the need of the SMB and deploy them accordingly. Lenovo has a range of products that are made with ESG requirements in mind. The latest range of Lenovo ThinkPad devices such as the ThinkPad Z13 is shaped by its key principles of responsible growth and driven forward by the company’s spirit of relentless innovation. The ThinkPad Z13 blazes through tasks lightning-fast and is great for multi-taskers. The ThinkPad Z13 is powered by Windows 11 Pro. Powerful for employees. Consistent for IT. Secure for all. Stay productive wherever business takes you.
On the other hand, Lenovo’s range of business laptops also benefits from low-temperature solder manufacturing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during production, and the use of post-consumer recycled plastic which minimises raw material usage. Lenovo devices are optionally backed by a unique CO2 offset service, making carbon neutrality ‘baked-in’ to the devices in question. The service offsets the carbon released over the lifecycle of a new device, all the way from design and manufacturing through to asset disposal, giving SMEs the freedom to choose exactly the technology they need without compromising ESG goals.
Management of assets and evaluation of strategies
Management of assets at the end of their end cycle is also important as part of your ESG strategy. Lenovo also has the expertise in managing asset disposal through their Asset Recovery Service (ARS), which helps SMEs responsibly dispose of – and generate the maximum possible value from – any hardware from any brand, including laptops, desktops, peripherals, and enterprise hardware. ARS offers a single-source solution for the secure, documented disposition of IT assets and data, and can be customised to address any organisation’s unique needs. Lenovo experts will assist in the development of a sustainable corporate disposition strategy for any technological hardware, with a range of certified asset disposition options depending on what the SMEs require.
Partnering with Lenovo to adopt ESG solutions as part of an overall strategy would benefit SMEs by helping them future proof their operations and opening opportunities for further investments. Lenovo, itself a global tech giant that takes ESG seriously, has the track record and knowledge for SMEs to tap into to ensure their businesses expand, not to mention the ‘how to adopt ESG measures’ for small businesses.
The above solutions coupled with Lenovo’s hardware would allow SMEs to experience an ease of transition toward adopting the ESG measures.
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